Earnings Watch: TV networks report as streaming services gain groundCBS (CBS), Time Warner (TWX), Viacom (VIA, VIAB), and 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA) are among TV network companies expected to report quarterly results over the next several weeks, with Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) already having reported before the open on July 23. EXPECTATIONS: Time Warner is expected to report EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $6.9B, CBS is expected to report EPS of 73c on revenue of $3.22B, Viacom is expected to report EPS of $1.47 on revenue of $3.22B, and 21st Century Fox is expected to report EPS of 37c on revenue of $6.48B. LAST QUARTER: CBS, Time Warner, and Fox all reported stronger than expected Q1 results, while Viacom reported higher than expected Q2 EPS but missed on revenue. THIS WEEK'S EARNINGS: On the morning of July 23, Comcast reported Q2 EPS of 84c in line with estimates, and revenue of $18.7B versus expectations for $18.14B. Cable customer relationships for the quarter were up 31,000 to 27.3M, driven by increases in double and triple product relationships. During a subsequent conference call, the company noted that TV viewership continues to be under pressure. NEWS: At Re/code's Code Conference on May 27, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves remarked that his network will "probably" sign up for Apple's (AAPL) rumored TV service, and on June 3, CBS announced that its Showtime network will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early July for a monthly price of $10.99, with Apple as its first partner. On July 1, Variety quoted sources as saying Viacom was attempting to entice advertisers by offering to construct social-media and digital extensions of traditional TV ad campaigns as the company seeks to move away from Nielsen-based advertising sales. On July 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that Viacom's Paramount Pictures reached an agreement with AMC (AMC) to accelerate the home release of movies, noting that the company hoped to implement the quickened schedule for all new releases beginning later in the year. On July 17, Re/code reported that Viacom held talks to acquire e-commerce and media company Thrillist Media, according to sources. On June 17, 21st Century Fox named James Murdoch as CEO, with founder and former chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch appointed executive co-chairman alongside Lachlan Murdoch. The Telegraph reported on June 20 that Fox rejected offers for its stake in Sky (SKYAY) from Vodafone (VOD) and Vivendi (VIVHY), potentially signalling an interest in outright purchasing the rest of Sky, according to the report. More recently, the European Commission announced on July 23 that it delivered a statement of objections to Sky and various film studios owned by Comcast, Viacom, Fox, Time Warner, Disney (DIS), and Sony (SNE), discussing anti-trust concerns due to limitations on country-by-country availability of pay-TV services. STREET RESEARCH: On May 12, Pacific Crest said it believes Apple will launch its TV service before the end of the year, saying the move should benefit TV networks as well as Apple itself. On June 24, Brean Capital said Facebook's (FB) agreement with Time Warner to host premier episodes of certain upcoming shows was "a trend worth following," and possibly indicative of Facebook hosting additional TV content in the future. Also on June 24, FBR Capital contended that Netflix (NFLX) was on pace to have a larger 24-hour audience than all traditional broadcast networks, where ratings are seeing declines on average, according to the research firm. Those comments were followed by a July 10 note on Netflix from Morgan Stanley, saying the subscription streaming service was seeing higher time spent per day than any single broadcast network. Moving away from the Netflix factor, on July 10, JPMorgan said CBS shares looked "very attractive" following a recent selloff, though the company saw a downgrade on July 20 from Pivotal, which cited higher costs of capital among other factors. Finally, Citi upgraded Viacom on July 16 to Neutral, citing recent underperformance in the company's shares heading into earnings season.

Pandora soars after results, guidance top estimatesShares of internet radio provider Pandora (P) are rising after the company’s second quarter results beat analysts' expectations. The company's third quarter and fiscal year 2015 revenue outlooks also exceeded the consensus. WHAT'S NEW: Thursday after the bell, Pandora reported Q2 adjusted earnings per share of 5c and revenue of $285.56M, easily topping analysts’ consensus estimates of 2c and $283.06M, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $16.3M, a 29% year-over-year improvement. The company also said that total RPMs increased 24% to $53.91 in Q2, ad RPMs grew 25% to $49.94, ad revenue was $230.9M and said total mobile revenue was $229.7M. For the quarter, total listener hours increased 5% to 5.3B and active listeners were 79.4M at the end of Q2 compared to 76.4M from the same period last year. Looking ahead to Q3, the company forecast revenue of $310M-$315M, slightly ahead of analysts' consensus estimates of $309.2M, and sees Q3 adjusted EBITDA of $25M-$30M. For FY15, Pandora forecast revenue of $1.175B-$1.185B, slightly better than analysts' consensus of $1.17B. Pandora also sees FY15 adjusted EBITDA of $75M-$85M and a tax rate of 30%-35%. WHAT’S NOTABLE: Brian McAndrews, the company's Chief Executive Officer, commented on Apple Music, Apple's (AAPL) recently launched music streaming service. McAndrews said that since the app launched at the end of June, "there was no impact yet" to Pandora. Going forward, McAndrews said that the company "feels really good about our trajectory and competitive position," noting that "there could be some users that experiment with [Apple Music] and there could be some short-term impact." McAndrews does not see any long-term impact from the Apple app. ANALYST REACTION: This morning, analyst commentary has been mixed. Research firm Stifel said Pandora's outlook remains favorable. Stifel said that the company plans to intensify its marketing efforts during the seasonally stronger 2H15 and that the company's outlook for 2H15 has improved following the results. The firm kept a $25 price target and Buy rating on the shares. Another firm, JMP Securities, said Pandora’s mobile trends were encouraging, but said it will stay on sidelines until the company's user trends accelerate and its royalty case concludes. JMP Securities kept a Market Perform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Pandora rose $2.05, or about 14.8%, to $15.93 on nearly twice its average daily trading volume. Despite today’s advance, the shares have fallen approximately 45% over the past year.

YouTube updates app, to offer VR, Engadget saysGoogle's YouTube has updated its mobile app, adding Home, Subscriptions, and Account tabs, Engadget reports. Users can watch full-screen vertical videos with just a single tap for the first time. In addition, the redesigned app comes with a set of video creation tools, including the option to trim footage, tint the image with filters, add music, and upload creations within the app. In addition, YouTube said that virtual reality will come to the streaming service with 360-degree video, the report says. Reference Link

Wal-Mart's Apple Pay competitor launching soon, Bloomberg saysCurrentC, the mobile payment application funded by Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY) and others, will see an early trial run next month, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing three people familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for Lowe's (LOW) said the consortium behind the app expects an official launch in Q3, and Bloomberg noted that CurrentC will compete with more "established" offerings such as Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay and Google's (GOOG) Android Pay. Reference Link

Earnings Watch: Visa reports after 'top pick' mention by BernsteinVisa (V) is expected to report third quarter results after the close on July 23, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. Visa is a global payments technology company. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 59c on revenue of $3.36B. EPS consensus ranges 54c-65c on a revenue range of $3.32B-$3.41B, according to First Call. LAST QUARTER: On April 30, Visa reported second quarter EPS of 63c against expectations for 62c, and reported revenue of $3.41B versus estimates of $3.34B. During its quarterly conference call, the company noted that "we're now looking at Q3 fully diluted EPS being 6c-8c lower than analyst's current expectations," adding that results are likely to be pressured by higher client incentives. Visa executives also disclosed expectations for a "meaningful step-up" in Q3 expense growth, with a number of marketing and technology initiatives having shifted towards the latter half of the year. PEERS: American Express (AXP) reported quarterly earnings after the close on July 22, with earnings above consensus estimates but revenue somewhat below expectations, noting a "significant" impact from a stronger U.S. dollar on international operations. NEWS: On May 8, Bloomberg reported that Visa was in preliminary talks to acquire Visa Europe for $15B-$20B, according to sources. On June 3, Visa and FireEye (FEYE) announced a strategic partnership to co-develop tools and services to protect against cyber attacks targeting payment data. On June 5, the Wall Street Journal reported that, due to Visa and MasterCard (MA) having finalized their card-security technology, Google's (GOOG) Android Pay will not be earning any transaction fees from credit-card issuers, and on June 17, Reuters reported that a U.S. appeals court affirmed that American Express can no longer block businesses from steering customers towards competitor cards, such as those of Visa. STREET RESEARCH: On May 19, Pacific Crest's Josh Beck shifted his preference to MasterCard from Visa, though he noted that the shift was simply due to Visa's outperformance over the past year. On May 20, Bernstein noted that the risk/reward ratio for both Visa and MasterCard looks positive, with the companies offering secular growth, "compelling" business models, and modest risk. More recently on July 14, Bernstein named Visa among its "Vintage Values 2016" list, citing the company's U.S. acquirer price increase and expectations that the Visa Europe put option will be exercised this year. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Visa have fallen just under 1% to $71.41 ahead of Thursday's earnings report.

JPMorgan sees risk of Synaptics losing Apple businessApple (AAPL) is working on bringing its touch and display driver integration functionality in-house to better protect its operating system, JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster tells investors today in a research note. The move increases the likelihood of the iPhone maker terminating its use of Synaptics' display diver solution in mid-2017, Coster writes. To reflect the risk of losing the business, the analyst cut his price target for Synaptics to $97 from $112. The supplier of human interface solutions is trading up 49c to $80.34 in early trading. Coster keeps an Overweight rating on Synaptics, however, saying the stock is already pricing in the risk of losing the Apple business after selling off 20% since mid June.

Oracle requests permission to update suit against Google, Reuters reportsOracle (ORCL) has requested permission from a U.S. judge to update its copyright lawsuit against Google (GOOG) to include the Android operating system's current market dominance, Reuters reports. Oracle has said it wants the suit to add that Google continues its copyright infringement through updated versions of Android, the report says. Reference Link